Regulating Grass Roots Movements

Usually I'm not an alarmist. Most times when people forward me emails about emails being taxed, churches being outlawed, or other such things, they just smack of Chicken Little syndrome, and it's quite easy to find out online that they are hoaxes.

I was therefore shocked with something I heard on Christian talk radio yesterday when a friend and I stepped out of the office to get lunch. On a program, they were quite alarmed about a new bill that is currently up in front of the House of Representatives. Under the umbrella of Lobbying Reform, it drives the following:

Under the House version of the Bill, a church or organization would be considered a “grassroots lobbying firm” subject to this law if the group attempted to influence the general public to voluntarily contact federal officials in order to express their own views on a federal issue. Furthermore, many large churches and ministries utilize mass media to communicate their message. Under this House Bill by Nancy Pelosi, these communications, as long as they are directed to at least one person who is not a member of the church, would fall under this new Bill. Finally, if the church spends an aggregate of only $50,000 or more for such efforts in a quarterly period, they are now required to register as lobbyists. Many ministries spend $50,000 or more a month for air time.

This attempt to slip in this onerous requirement on churches and other organizations must be stopped. The rationale behind Speaker Pelosi and others’ desire to silence churches is obvious. Pastors addressing the moral issues of the day have been able to mobilize tens of thousands of individuals to speak out on various issues. But under this proposed legislation, if a church or denomination spent $50,000 of its own resources on air time to encourage people to support the confirmation of federal judicial nominees or to lend its support to a federal marriage amendment, then that church or denomination would be classified as a grassroots lobbying firm. This is one of the most significant violations of free exercise of religion and the freedom of political speech in our Nation’s history. Some have said that this plan is the most comprehensive regulation of political speech that has ever been put forward by Congress.

The excerpt above was from the American Center for Law & Justice website's article New Congress Proposes Drastic Legislation to Impact Churches. Please visit their website to learn more and for information on petition participation.